Behind the Screens December 2024

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Behind the Screens

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By Nicki Wilson

December 2024

Intro

Hello Members, Supporters, and Moviegoers,

Season’s Greetings! I have some great news to share! The day after Thanksgiving, we had the largest crowd we’ve had at the Triplex since we reopened a year ago with almost 1000 people showing up to watch the latest films. The following day we had almost 800 people. It was truly wonderful to see the theater so full of people over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Also, on the news front, we were chosen as-runner up for the Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for best movie theater by Rural Intelligence’s readers. Bantam Cinema & Arts Center in Litchfield County took first place and the Triplex Cinema and Beacon Cinema tied for second place. As Rural Intelligence covers the Tri-State area, we are very grateful to be acknowledged in this category and thank everyone who voted for the Triplex.

Rural Intelligence

Holiday Stroll Copy

Getting into the Holiday spirit, stop by the Triplex’s heated patio on Saturday afternoon, December 14th between 4pm and 8pm and have a hot chocolate and if you want to spice it up, come inside to our concession counter and have a shot of your favorite whiskey poured into your hot chocolate.

Winter Lodge

Sam's Letter

On a more serious note, someone recently wrote to the Triplex saying they were a weekender and had been a frequent Triplex moviegoer before Covid but were disappointed that we never had anything that they wanted to see on the weekends. At the Triplex, we take every criticism seriously, and I asked Sam Handel, who is on our programming committee, to please write to the person. I was so impressed by Sam’s reply and explanation on how we choose our films, I thought I would share it with everyone, as it explains exactly how films are chosen at the Triplex for anyone who is interested in knowing.

“We are primarily a first run theater, meaning that the bulk of our films are new releases. We work with the same independent film booker who has been booking films at the Triplex for many years prior to our non-profit purchasing and operating the theater. He has relationships with all the distributors and has years of data about our specific market. He recommends the mix of new releases that he believes will be successful to our creative director, who ultimately programs the new releases. Looking at our current titles, we have what is expected to be an Oscar contender in “A Real Pain.” We are also screening “Blitz,” the new film directed by Steve McQueen (Oscar, 2 Baftas, Golden Globe for direction), and lastly “Conclave,” a thriller, starring Ralph Fiennes. Speaking for myself, I am not personably interested in all three of these films, but I do think the current slate represents a good mix of popular, high-quality films. Coming up, we have “Wicked” which will be the most popular film available upon release and “Moana 2” which we expect to be hugely popular with families and helps us to fulfill a core principle of our mission, which is “movies for all.”

In addition to that, we also program “calendar bookings.” This would have been called “second run” when I was younger. These are films that are no longer in their new release window but would be of interest to our audience who hasn’t had an opportunity to see them on a big screen in the region. These generally run for a single week for us. It’s a great way to program a more diverse mix of films for us because these films come without the multi-week commitments required by the big studios for new releases, which are challenging for our little cinema with only three operational theaters. This past year, we screened a lot of foreign films this way, and more importantly to your interest of popular films, virtually every major award contending film. By the way we are raising funds to renovate our fourth theater which would be a great benefit to the programming we can offer.

Lastly, we also program revival films and special events. These are usually single screenings, often with a speaker who was involved in the production of the film. For instance, we hosted Joan Baez, who screened her recent documentary and spoke afterwards. Recently, Bill Murray took questions after a screening of “A Life Aquatic.” This past weekend, we hosted a young filmmaker’s festival, where local teenagers had the opportunity to screen their own work. This type of programming is the bulk of the work our programming committee does, and it is scheduled at points in the year where the new release calendar is less robust.

Lastly, I should mention that in our first year of operation, we have been dealing with the effects of the dual strikes in Hollywood. Both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA were on strike for nearly a year, resulting in a limited number of available new releases.

I hope this has shed some light on how we approach our programming. I am confident in our approach and that we will regularly have films that will entice you to return.

Best,

Sam”

Many thanks to Sam for his thoughtful and informative response. And, as we close out 2024, many thanks to our amazing Board, Committees, Staff, Volunteers. Donors and Moviegoers. The Triplex would not exist without all of you!

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Happy Holidays and hope to see you at the Movies!

Nicki Wilson

Board President

Triplex Cinema

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